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| Spike's hat, LyraBon and Derpy. It's like a meme factory! |
Written by M. A. Larson
10 Dec 2011
My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 8.3
The one with Junebug drinking from the fountain.
Thoughts: Spike episodes were generally unpopular until "Gauntlet of Fire" turned up in S6, but "Secret of My Excess" was to some degree an exception. It starts out very well, with the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" nod in Twilight's reshelving. Then we get into the Sparity – this is one of the most significant canon examples, and as someone who doesn't find it that interesting a crush I get a bit bored with it here. Still, I do like the scene with the two of them during the fall. That segment also has some excellent and funny Rainbow'n'Flutters animation. Anyway, the "dragon puberty" stuff is a tiny bit on the dull side, and I'm thankful it doesn't take up much time – but Spike's rampaging is really quite fun once he properly gets going. And the Wonderbolts fail again! One minor observation: there's a globe in this episode; I think it's the first time we see one. I would probably have given this ep a high two-star rating in the past. I'm bumping it up to three now, though it's certainly still below "Sweet and Elite" in my estimation.
Choice quote: Applejack: "Twilight? Get my rope."
New rating: ★★★
Next up is "Hearth's Warming Eve", which somehow now feels like a relic from an impossibly distant time, more so even than most S1 episodes do. I wonder whether it'll stay that way after rewatching.
This is one of those episodes I feel like I enjoy less and less the more I watch it. Not great, but definitely points off for egging the Sparity shippers on. :/
ReplyDeleteFor me, at this point during the series, Spike episodes were not among my favorite episodes. Because to me, even if this says the same for every character, it's pretty formulaic: Spike causes a problem and usually somepony else has to fix it, if not entirely himself. To be fair, Spike only got into the state where he instantly grew to be a giant Kaiju of a monster only because his earlier birthdays and Hearths Warming he only gets one gift (A book) so when he suddenly gets all the presents from his friends, he starts seeking for more, then it becomes a matter of hoarding random junk, and it's then we see a part of his dragon self nearly consuming him.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to say this was a 'bad' episode by any means, there are some humorous moments. The Wonderbolts' 'epic fail' (Which makes me question why Dash still wants to join the team), the funny lines from Twilight and her friends, and even the rampaging Giant Spike thing would prove so popular it's featured in one of ToucanLDM's earlier projects.
It's also at this point we see the 'Sparity' ordeal which was popular even back then. But the one element that always confused me is that when it seems both Spike and Rarity are about to plummet to their deaths and just when it seems Spike is finally going to confess about his crush to Miss Marshmallow, she just stops him, gives him a tearful look and to this day I'm still trying to figure it out. Did she always 'knew' that Spike had feelings for her that way? Was that merely her way of saying let's just make the most of this time? Or that everything was going to be okay and he didn't have to say anything? I don't know, I feel like that wasn't really brought up that much after this episode. And considering this whole 'incurable crush' thing would still go on, I can understand why it gets rather 'boring' when it hardly feels resolved (I think Season 9 'barely' put a remedy to that).
So I don't want to say this was a bad episode, I really don't... But as I said, back then, Spike episodes weren't my favorite to look forward to.
It's an odd episode, this one. In many respects, it's better then some Spike episodes (largely, I think, due to not sidelining most of the Mane 6 and thus allowing the wonderful character dynamics to still play out) yet despite that, it doesn't linger in the mind much. Basically, I like it quite a bit, and find in perfectly enjoyable (there are some really fun lines and moments in this one) yet it's not one I'd want to rewatch much. Just goes to show that enjoyment and (positive) memorability aren't always fully in-sync.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you mention the next episode, "Hearth's Warming Eve" feeling like a relic from an even more distant time then most Season 1 episodes, because in some way this episode falls under that - certainly, I think one reason it's not brought up much, other then not having a lot that stands out, it is more Tolkein-like lore for dragon biology was largely invalidated by future dragon episodes that presented them, for better or for worse, as more standard children's dragons in a Saturday Morning Cartoon.
For my money, I quite like "Hearth's Warming Eve"; that its unique structure was never again repeated helps keep it unique, and the different setting means some of Merriweather Williams' "off" tics are far less pervasive.
Agreed with PP, this is an episode that hasn't aged well with me. First, the good stuff, though.
ReplyDeleteThis was one of the most fun applications of the "Where's Waldo" usage of Derpy early on. I wonder if someone needed a package delivered down the well? Spike was a little fun at first, and we actually get a Junebug speaking role! I love that she drank from the fountain, too. I didn't get nearly as worked up as most people when those documents were leaked that showed some of Faust's original plans for the series, which made things a whole lot more horse-y. Maybe that was a tad overboard, but I do appreciate the touches of horse-ness here and there, like rearing up and whinnying when startled. I remember a character munching on a flower in an early ep, too. I like doing things like that in stories: having ponies eat gift bouquets or nibbling on grass in the town square.
But Spike got annoying after a while, the Wonderbolts were laughably ineffective (srsly? We've seen them deployed twice in the series by now, and they've had to be rescued both times.), and this was one of the two worst instances in the whole series of Rarity seeming to deliberately lead Spike on.
I don't say this ages badly as in it fails to keep up with the times or character arcs or anything. It's more that when it was first aired, it has that excitement value of seeing the characters you love in a new adventure, and even if it's a poor episode, it still has that shininess and unknown element to it. Then that wears off, leaving it as an episode I don't care about enough to watch again.